Stewardship Principles

(NIV)

WE

GOD

(NIV)

1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 “ ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

I. Godly Stewardship always has accountability to others

i. Now Godly Stewardship always has accountability to others as we see here in this parable by Jesus of a rich man and his manager who was asked to give an account of his work.

Now Godly Stewardship always has accountability to others as we see here in this parable by Jesus of a rich man and his manager who was asked to give an account of his work.

B. Provide at least 2 images(illustration, metaphor, etc…)

i. In the Parable of the Talents, the money that was entrusted to each person was not theirs. The money was given to them for a certain amount of time and they were held accountable for their management of it.

A. Now Godly Stewardship always has accountability to others. Jesus tells his disciples about a parable of a rich man and his manager who wasnt doing his job well and was wasting resources, so the rich man asked him to give him an account of all his managing

In the Parable of the Talents, the money that was entrusted to each person was not theirs. The money was given to them for a certain amount of time and they were held accountable for their management of it.

ii. It’s a perfect example of how God entrusts us with money during our time here on earth. We will be held accountable for how we have managed it, whether we have a lot or a little! We are not the owners of what we have. We are all temporary managers. We will be either faithful or unfaithful in how we manage it.

C. Defense against possible arguments of applying text

A. Repeat main point again

II. Godly Stewardship maximizes the gifts of God

B. Now, In the Parable of the Talents, the money that was entrusted to each person was not theirs. The money was given to them for a certain amount of time and they were held accountable for their management of it.

A. Repeat point and provide proper exegesis

B. Provide at least 2 images(illustration, metaphor, etc…)

(NIV) 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

(NIV)

It’s a perfect example of how God entrusts us with money during our time here on earth. We will be held accountable for how we have managed it, whether we have a lot or a little! We are not the owners of what we have. We are all temporary managers. We will be either faithful or unfaithful in how we manage it.

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

R. G. LeTourn (1888 – 1969) was a Christian industrialist who dedicated his life to “being a businessman for God.” He was hugely successful, designing and developing his own line of earth-moving equipment.

B. Now, In the Parable of the Talents, the money that was entrusted to each person was not theirs. The money was given to them for a certain amount of time and they were held accountable for their management of it.

LeTourneau was the maker of nearly 300 inventions, and had hundreds of patents in his lifetime. As he succeeded financially, he increased his giving to the point where he was giving 90% of his income to the Lord’s work.

It’s a perfect example of how God entrusts us with money during our time here on earth. We will be held accountable for how we have managed it, whether we have a lot or a little! We are not the owners of what we have. We are all temporary managers. We will be either faithful or unfaithful in how we manage it.

I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back—but God has a bigger shovel. – R. G. LeTourn

C. Defense against possible arguments of applying text

i. Stewardship is not ordering your finances in a way that you can spend whatever you want. It’s ordering your life in such a way that God can spend you however He wants.

A. Repeat main point again

III. Godly Stewardship invests in people more than possessions.

It’s a perfect example of how God entrusts us with money during our time here on earth. We will be held accountable for how we have managed it, whether we have a lot or a little! We are not the owners of what we have. We are all temporary managers. We will be either faithful or unfaithful in how we manage it.

A. Repeat point and provide proper exegesis

Also, in the book of Genesis in the creation account it mentions that we are stewards over all creation. It’s our responsibility to take care of it. That everything is Gods and that we own nothing!

Matt Chandler Sermon Archive, 2006–2015 Part 4: Stewardship

This is why you cannot buy the Lord off. You can’t buy him off with your good deeds, and you certainly can’t buy him off by giving your money to the church every now and then. He cannot be bought.

B. Provide at least 2 images(illustration, metaphor, etc…)

C. Now we might be tempted to think that we can bargain with God and say “I don’t need accountibility”. That kind of thinking comes from a place of pride. What we are really saying is that we don’t need any help, I am never wrong, and I can do it by myself. But, God calls us to have a spirit of humility. The managing of our lives takes more than just us. We were made to be in community and share life with another and a relationship with God. We will be held accountable to God for our stewardship

Nine years later, the pastor was invited to speak at a church in New Orleans. After the service, a man walked up to the preacher and shared this story about how he had come to faith in Christ: “Several years ago, my wife and our child were destitute. We had lost everything, had no jobs, no money and were living in our car. We also lost all hope, and agreed to a suicide pact, including our child. However, we decided to first give our son some food, so we drove to a convenience store to buy him some food and milk.”

“While we were standing in line at the store, we realized that we did not have enough money to pay for these items, but a man behind us asked us to please take the money from his hand and not look at him. This man told us that ‘Jesus loves you.’”

“We left the store, drove to our designated suicide site, and wept for hours. We couldn’t go through with it, so we drove away. As we drove, we noticed a church with a sign out front which said, ‘Jesus love you.’ We went to that church the very next Sunday, and both my wife and I were saved that day.”

He then told the pastor, “When you began speaking this morning, I knew immediately that you were the man who gave us that money.” How did he know? The pastor was from South Africa and had a very distinct accent. He continued, “Your act of kindness was much more than a simple good deed. Three people are alive today because of it.”

A gentle challenge: Maintain your spiritual antennae, remembering that God can multiply the smallest gift many times over.

C. Defense against possible arguments of applying text

A. So, Godly stewardship always has accountability to others.

II. Godly Stewardship maximizes the gifts of God

A. Also, Godly stewardship maximizes the gifts we receive from God.

(NIV)

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Life Application Bible Commentary, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude Continue to Love Each Other in the Midst of Suffering / 4:1–11

Each person has received one or more spiritual gifts from God. A spiritual gift is a talent or ability empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church. Spiritual “gifts” help God’s people to serve and love one another (4:8) and continue the work of spreading the gospel

Each person has received one or more spiritual gifts from God. A spiritual gift is a talent or ability empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church. Spiritual “gifts” help God’s people to serve and love one another and continue the work of spreading the gospel.

B. It’s like the story of a boy around Christmas time who used every cent in his piggy bank to get a gift for his mother. She loved to bake so he decided to get her a flour sifter. On Christmas day she shows her excitement when she unwraps it. Days and weeks go by and she never uses it as it collects dust in the kitchen. The boys see that his mother hasn’t used it but her only excuse is, I haven’t needed it yet. You can see the disappointed in the boys face.

God used this deflated, pint-size picture to remind me what it feels like to give someone a really special gift, only to have the gift left in the drawer, unused. He helped me to see that weve done the very same thing to Him.

If you are a child of God, you have been given gifts. Meaningful gifts. Significant gifts. Gifts that were hand-selected just for you.

Whether we choose to leave them tucked in the back of a dusty cupboard, or display them prominently through the fingerprinted glass of the china cabinet, if they remain unused, they are useless. They’re not benefiting anyone.

We may neglect our gifts for any number of reasons.

Maybe we’re afraid of coming across as prideful. “Hey, look what I can do. Look at my gift.”

Or maybe the pendulum swings to the other extreme: “I’m not really good at that. So many other people can do the same thing so much better than I can.”

I would argue that both heart attitudes are off-kilter.

God hasn’t given us gifts to flaunt or parade for our own glory. Neither has He given them so we can sit on them as we warm the pews. He has given each individual specific gifts to be used and exercised for His glory, and to build up and edify the church.

C. Now we might argue and say well, Pastor Scott i’ve done my time. I have served in the church for so many years. It’s funny when I hear that because, I don’t know of any retirement plan in God’s kingdom. I believe we are still going to have work to do when we are in heaven! God says that only those who endure to the end will be saved! Others may argue, well Pastor Scott i’ll just let others serve. I know so and so would really want to do that. That’s not how it works either. We are saved to serve not saved to sit. We are not to be spectators in a sport but, we are to be participants in the worship of a Holy God!

III. Godly Stewardship invests more in people than possessions

D. So Godly Stewardship will maximize the gifts we receive from God

III. Godly Stewardship invests more in people than possessions

That brings me to my final point...

A. Godly Stewardship invests more in people than possessions.

In verse 13 it states “No one can serve two masters, that you cannot serve both God and money!”

B. Now Years ago, a pastor noticed the family standing in front of him at a New Orleans convenience store and they didn’t have enough money to pay for their few items. He tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “You don’t need to turn around, but please accept this money.” The man took the money without ever seeing the Pastor.

Years ago, a pastor noticed the family standing in front of him at a New Orleans convenience store and they didn’t have enough money to pay for their few items. He tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “You don’t need to turn around, but please accept this money.” The man took the money without ever seeing the preacher.

Nine years later, the pastor was invited to speak at a church in New Orleans. After the service, a man walked up to the pastor and shared this story about how he had come to faith in Christ: “Several years ago, my wife and our child were destitute. We had lost everything, had no jobs, no money and were living in our car. We also lost all hope, and agreed to a suicide pact, including our child. However, we decided to first give our son some food, so we drove to a convenience store to buy him some food and milk.”

“While we were standing in line at the store, we realized that we did not have enough money to pay for these items, but a man behind us asked us to please take the money from his hand and not look at him. This man told us that ‘Jesus loves you.’”

“We left the store, drove to our designated suicide site, and wept for hours. We couldn’t go through with it, so we drove away. As we drove, we noticed a church with a sign out front which said, ‘Jesus love you.’ We went to that church the very next Sunday, and both my wife and I were saved that day.”

He then told the pastor, “When you began speaking this morning, I knew immediately that you were the man who gave us that money.” “Your act of kindness was much more than a simple good deed. Three people are alive today because of it.”

Stewardship is not ordering your finances in a way that you can spend whatever you want. It’s ordering your life in such a way that God can spend you however He wants. God wants to spend you on people!

Godly stewardship invests more in people than possessions!

William Barclay puts it this way…The Greatest act of Generosity was when God gave us His son Jesus who purchased us with His own blood!

YOU

So how are you stewarding what God has given you? How are you stewarding the finances, gifts, and talents God has given you? Are you wasting them or are you putting them to kingdom use for the glory of God?

WE

Can you imagine what the church would look like if everyone became a good steward of the resources, gifts, and talents God has given us? I believe the powers of hell would be dissolved because of the unity of our faith! I believe no one would die of starvation, I believe no veteran would be homeless, I believe there would be less crime, and we would see less violence in the world. Maybe this is what God wanted when he prayed Let your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!